1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed toward protector means for hockey sticks.
The invention is more particularly directed toward protector means for protecting the bottom edge of a hockey stick blade from wear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Children often use their hockey sticks to play ball hockey on paved surfaces such as driveways or roads. The bottom of the stick rapidly wears away when used on such surfaces, making the stick too thin to be effectively used in playing hockey on ice, and eventually ruining the stick. To save their regular hockey sticks, children often purchase a plastic blade and attach it to a handle of a broken regular hockey stick to provide a stick suitable for ball hockey. These plastic-bladed sticks do not however have the same feel and action as a regular hockey stick.
Indoor ball hockey is becoming a popular summer sport. Players equipped in running shoes play ball-hockey in arenas on the concrete floor. Again however, regular hockey sticks wear out on the concrete. Also, many arenas do not permit regular hockey sticks to be used in ball hockey. The blades of the regular hockey sticks are normally taped to minimize splitting. The tape leaves scuff marks on the concrete floor which are difficult to clean off. Thus ball hockey players must use untaped hockey sticks which wear even more quickly, or they must purchase special, plastic-bladed sticks which again do not have the same feel and action as regular hockey sticks.
It is the purpose of the present invention to provide protector means for the blades of regular hockey sticks that prevents wear of the bottom edge of the blades when the sticks are used on surfaces other than ice.
The protector means can be made in one or two pieces. Connecting means are provided on the protector means for use in detachably connecting the protector means to the blade. The connecting means are designed to allow the player to easily and quickly attach the protector means to his stick when he wants to play ball hockey, and to easily and quickly remove the protector means when he wants to the stick by tape. The tape is wrapped in grooves in the protector means so it is not worn away when playing on a rough surface. The protector means is preferably made from a plastic material so that the protector means not only protects the hockey stick, but it also makes it easier to slide the sticks on the rough playing surface. With the protector means mounted on the hockey stick, it is the protector means that wears out and not the stick. The protector means is quite inexpensive compared to the stick and cheap to replace compared to replacing the hockey stick.